Williamsport hosts remote workers during July Wilds Are Working initiative
- by Ellen Matis
- July 30, 2024
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Pictured, from left to right: Mark Winkelman (Wilds Are Working Lodging Host and Owner of The Pajama Factory), Jason Fink (Wilds Are Working Community Lead and President/CEO of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce), Emily Flake (Wilds Are Working Welcome Committee Member and Owner of St. Nell’s Humor Residency), Gabe Mollica (2024 Wilds Are Working Participant and Writer/Editor, Comedian & Story Coach), Kaley Botting (2024 Wilds Are Working Participant and Video and Podcast Producer), Alicia Barnes (2024 Wilds Are Working Participant and Executive Creative Director, Brand Strategy), and LaKeshia Knarr (Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Director for the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship).
Three individuals traveled — one even internationally — this summer to experience all that life in Williamsport, in the I-80 Frontier landscape and Pine Creek Valley and the PA Grand Canyon landscape of the PA Wilds, had to offer. The group was hosted as part of the 2024 Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience, now in its third year in the Pennsylvania Wilds region.
Funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission through Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA and administered by the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., this program seeks to help address the issue of outmigration in rural areas by marketing PA Wilds communities as great places to live and work.
Communities across the region have participated in the program since 2022: Piloting in Bellefonte in Kane, and then held in Warren and Emporium in 2023. Participants in the 2024 program were able to apply to participate in programs in both Williamsport in July and Saint Marys in August.
Applicants from across the United States applied to live and work with most expenses covered for one month in each location. This summer’s program brought the initiative’s farthest traveler: A remote-based worker from the United Kingdom.
During the month of July, the visitors to the area immersed themselves in local culture, shopped at small businesses, experienced community-centric events, and more.
Pictured, from left to right: Gabe Mollica, Kaley Botting, Alicia Barnes
Getting to know Williamsport’s Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience participants
Kaley Botting, Producer and Content Manager
Traveling from Rickmansworth, United Kingdom, Kaley said that the Wilds Are Working initiative originally appealed to her as “the perfect opportunity for her family.”
“The idea of being in such a charming town but with amazing access to the countryside is very much our dream,” Botting said. Botting’s family has lived in Pennsylvania at various points throughout her life, and she’s always felt a strong connection to the state.
“City living doesn’t appeal to us at all,” she said. The Wilds Are Working program gives her family, including her husband and toddler, a chance to really decide if rural living is right for them.
Gabe Mollica, Writer/Editor, Comedian, and Story Coach
Gabe Mollica joined the Wilds Are Working program in Williamsport to get away from his daily life in New York City, he said.
“I wanted to experience nature, enjoy the outdoors, meet people, and do my work in a setting that’s peaceful, serene, and comfortable.”
Mollica said his line of remote work was well-suited to the experience.
“The remote work I do includes writing, editing, making online content, and consulting on other people’s solo plays,” he said. Working remotely from Williamsport would provide a significant boost for his mental health, allowing him to move more and work in a different way than New York City-living provided.
“(I) think my schedule is perfectly suited to both work hard during the day and enjoy the offerings of the program at other times,” he said in his initial application.
Alicia Barnes, Executive Creative Director, Brand Strategy
Coming from nearby Pittsburgh, Alicia Barnes works for an experiential marketing and creative tech innovation studio. In her application, Barnes said “I’m definitely a unique combination of city mouse and country mouse.” Participating in the Wilds Are Working initiative allowed her to nurture her love of supporting local shops, restaurants, and museums, as well as biking and hiking.
“I’m looking forward to really being immersed and involved in a new community—meeting new people, finding ways to volunteer and hopefully be a small contributor to the community during my time there,” she said.
“(I) feel like this is a great opportunity to move out my comfort zone, experiment with a new lifestyle, and think about what comes next for me,” she said.
Photos taken by Rosie Marketing for the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship
For all of the participants, the opportunity to “do things they wouldn’t normally do” in their current cities was a common theme. Mollica said as much during an interview for The PA Wilds at the start of their stay in July.
All of the participants in the 2024 Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience indicated that they had considered relocating to the Pennsylvania Wilds region in their applications.
Learn more
Interested in learning more about the Wilds Are Working: Remote Lifestyle Experience? Read this “What you should know” piece; or check out the Frequently Asked Questions.
